The subject matter relates generally to connector systems and, more particularly, to elevated and/or stackable electrical connectors.
There is an increasing demand for digital content in today's society in both the home and the workplace, due at least in part to the proliferation of electronic devices having digital audio/video sources such as set-top boxes, HD DVD disc players, Blu-ray Disc players, personal computers, video game consoles, or AV receivers. Such devices typically include internal connectors at input/output ports such as, for example, High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connectors, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) and External SATA or eSATA connectors, IEEE 1394 connectors and Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors. HDMI connects digital audio/video sources to a compatible digital audio device and/or video monitor such as a digital television (DTV). SATA and eSATA define standards primarily for disk drives, or more generally data storage solutions, for personal computers. The IEEE 1394 and USB are both serial bus interfaces for high speed communication. The connectors are typically mounted at the edge of circuit boards to facilitate access of cable mounted external connectors to the internal circuits of the host devices.
The proliferation of sending, receiving and storing digitally formatted data has led to an increased need for connectors that interconnect the host device with external devices. Additionally, the host devices using such connectors tend to need different types of connectors to allow for interconnection with different types of external devices and/or to allow for integration into an existing system of the end user. Some devices, such as set top boxes, game box converters, etc. may contain multiple types of connectors, such as HDMI, eSATA, IEEE 1394, and USB ports. HDMI connectors, eSATA connectors, IEEE 1394 connectors and/or USB connectors are typically mounted at the edge of circuit boards to facilitate access of cable mounted external connectors to the internal circuits of the host devices. Typically, component area on the circuit boards is limited due to the connectors and other board mounted devices and components, such as resistors, diodes or other components. As a result, it is desirable to conserve space on the circuit boards. Conserving component area on the circuit boards is challenging.